World's 1000 beautiful tourist places

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Badrinath is 28 km from Gobind ghat via Pandukeshwar and is the most popular of the Chardhams. Mana is the last Indian village and is 3 km from Badrinath.

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Melbourne ( Australia ) beautiful place to visit beautiful place to live. Just getting a bit busy these days..

Country Victoria ( Australia ) Anywhere is fantastic to see! Checjk your own backyards before travelling overseas.. there is soooo much out there to see even on your own doorstep

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Kolkata : It is the capital of West Bengal. Bengali sweets are world famous. The city is notorious for traffic jams and the easy-slow pace of travel. Kolkata has the India's first Metro (underground railway system). The single line is from Dum Dum to Tollygunje.The Metro is clear, calm, cheap and efficient.

Trams run in the city using overhead electrical lines. They are a major cause of traffic jams, so their days may be numbered. It is cheap and the best way to see the city.

Howrah bridge (Rabindra Setu) : It is Kolkata's landmark - a 450 m single span hanging bridge over river Hooghly. It is the world's busiest bridge with 100,000 vehicle crossing a day.

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Indian Museum : India's largest museum (admission Rs 10, Camera Rs 50, Monday closed) has a world class gallery of religious sculptures, gallery on plants and horticulture and a life size reproduction of the Barhut gateway, built by Bihari Buddhist in the 2nd century BC.

Victoria memorial : It is the most impressive colonial building in India (admission Rs 10, Monday closed). It is made of shining white marble and has statues and portraits of all the main players in the history of British India. During British Raj, a British family has 110 servants.

Marble palace : This marvellous mansion built by Raja Rajendro Mullick Bahadur in 1835. The raja was an obsessive collector of Victoriana and his palace is a treasure house of chintz. There is barely space to move between the marble busts, chandeliers, gold clocks and pottery dogs.

The palace garden has a small zoo with deer and birds. Permission for visiting can be obtained from West Bengal tourist office (no photography, closed on Mondays and Thursdays).

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St Paul's Cathedral : It is the principal place of Christian worship, constructed between 1839 and 1847 with impressive stained glass.

Birla Planetarium : This large planetarium offers the best way to see the stars in smoggy, polluted Kolkata (admission Rs 20, 1.30 pm and 6.30 pm).

St John's church : The imposing church has some important colonial graves, including the octagonal mausoleum of Job Charnock, the ex-founder of Kolkata (admission Rs 10).

Nakhoda mosque : This huge red sandstone mosque built in 1926 and modelled on Akbar's tomb at Sikandra.

Park street cemetery : It worth a visit and has some interesting memorials including the mausoleum of Asiatic society's founder, Sir William Jones. Buried beneath stone columns, plinths and pyramids you'll find characters such as George Bogle, the first British envoy to Tibet, Elizabeth Jane Barwell etc.

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Birla mandir : The vast marble and sandstone temple dedicated to Laxshmi Narayan, an incarnation of Vishnu, and the three towers are covered in ornate carvings. The temple was completed in 1996 after 26 years of construction.

Zoo & Horticultural gardens : Kolkata's 16 hectare zoo on Alipore road was opened in 1875 (admission Rs 10, Thursday closed). Horticultural gardens is nearby (admission Rs 10).

Kali temple : At Kalighat (7 km), where goats are ritually beheaded to honour the goddess Kali, the destructive incarnation of Shiva's first wife, Sati. Mother Teresa's Nirmal Hriday is next door to the temple.

Mother Teresa - For many people, Mother Teresa (1910 - 97), was the living image of human sacrifice. Born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in Serbia, Mother Teresa joined the Irish order of Loreto nuns in 1929 and was posted to India in 1937. She formed a new order 'Missionaries of Charity' to give wholehearted free service to the poorest of the poor. She was awarded with Nobel peace prize in 1979. She was officially beatified by the Vatican in Oct 2003, a first step towards canonisation. The Mother house houses the marble tombstone having the inscription 'Love one another as I have loved you'.

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Belur math : It is the headquarters of Ramakrishna mission, founded by the 19th century Indian philosopher Ramakrishna (1836 - 1902), who preached unity of all religions. A small museum displays the life of Ramakrishna, his wife Sri Sarada Devi and Swami Vivekananda (admission Rs 3, Monday closed). There is regular ferry across the Hooghly river to Dakshineshwar (Rs 6, 15 minutes).

Dakshineshwar Kali temple : The temple was built in classic Bengali hut style in 1847 and is surrounded by 12 other temples dedicated to Shiva. Ramakrishna was a priest here.

Pareshnath Jain temple : This ornate temple is dedicated to Sheetalnathji, the 10th of the 24 Jain tirthankar (great teacher). The entire surface is covered in a mosaic of mirrors, coloured stones and glass.

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Science city (Admission Rs 15, rides Rs 10 to 30): It is a science park housed in a series of giant domes. There's a ropeway, an aviary and various games and amusement park rides. Evolution park (Rs 10) with animatronic dinosaurs provides plenty of entertainment. The park is at Salt Lake city and buses are from outside the Indian museum (Rs 15, 45 minutes).

Nicco park : It is a colourful theme park near Science city with plenty of thrill rides, a rollercoaster, log flume and dodgems (Admission Rs 50, rides Rs 10 to 30).

Location : Kolkata, West Bengal, India.

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Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh

Charminar : Charminar, landmark of Hyderabad, was built by Mohammed Quli Qutb Shah in 1591 to commemorate the end of a devastating epidemic. Standing 56 m high and 30 m wide this four columned structure creates four arches facing the cardinal points. There's a minaret sitting atop each column.

There is a small mosque in the 2nd floor from which spiral staircase leads up the columns, which has a fine city view. Charminar is illuminated from 7 to 9 pm daily.

Laad bazaar : Located west of Charminar, has everything from the finest perfumes, fabrics and jewels to musical instruments and kitchen implements. You can see artists creating their works of fine bidri (inlaid silverware), large pots and musical instruments. It is the main centre of India's pearl trade.

Mecca masjid : One of the world's largest mosque, which can accommodate 10,000 worshippers. It is near Charminar and it's construction began in 1614, during Mohammed Quli Qutb Shah's reign. Several bricks above the gate are made with soil from Mecca, hence the name.

The colonnades and door arches, with the inscriptions from the Quran, are made from single slabs of granite that were quarried 11 km away and dragged here by a team of 1400 bullocks.

To the left of the mosque, an enclosure contains the tombs of Nizam Ali Khan and his successors.

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Salar Jung Museum : The huge collection, some of which are of 1 century, as put together by Mir Yusuf Ali Khan (Salar Jung III), the grand vizier of the seventh nizam, Osman Ali Khan. The 35,000 exhibits from every corner of the world include sculptures, wood carvings, devotional objects, Persian miniature paintings, illuminated manuscripts, weaponry etc. Admission Rs 10, Friday closed.

The spectacular Indo-Saracenic style High court and Osmania General Hospital buildings are nearby.

Golconda fort : The 16 century fortress (Rs 5, Monday closed) was the capital of Telangana state for nearly 80 years. The citadel was made on a 120 m high granite hill and surrounded by crenellated ramparts. The massive gates were studded with iron spikes to obstruct war elephants. A smallest sound from the Grand Portico would echo across the fort.

Tombs of Qutb Shahi kings : The domed tombs (admission Rs 10, camera Rs 20) with gardens lie 1.5 km from Golconda fort. The upper level of Mohammed Quli's tomb, reached via a narrow staircase, has good views of the area.